Latest news with #beachclub
The Sun
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
New FREE kids' beach club opens in UK city with real seaside smells – it's even sheltered from the rain
A BRAND new beach club has opened with immersive games, all for free - and it is in the middle of a major UK city. Located at Westfield London, in Shepherd's Bush, the Beach Club is free to all and features different interactive elements and areas. 2 Perfect for rainy days or those who can't get to a real beach, at the club families can enjoy a range of immersive games, interactive zones and photo opportunities. After entering through a sandcastle arch, families will be greeted with giant inflatables including iconic seaside items like beach balls and ice lollies. Other supersized beach props will include deck chairs and surfboards. Inside the beach club, kids can then experience a 'sensory sandcastle', complete with kinetic sand and the sights, sounds and even smells of the seaside. For parents who want to play with their children, there will also be some classic games such as Connect 4 and skittles. You can also make sure you don't forget the day by snapping some pics at the photo opportunities around the club, including a towering wave. Dubbed by Westfield as "a city staycation with a stylish twist", there will also be a number of events, activities and surprise pop ups at the Beach Club. Andrew Phillis, general manager, Westfield London, said: "We know that summer outings are about more than shopping — people want experiences that feel social, surprising and connected to the culture around them. "This summer at Westfield London, we are delivering exactly that with a diverse programme for all tastes: from discovering live sets by rising artists at Sounds of the Summer, to hands-on family fun at The Beach Club, or simply relaxing with great food and entertainment." The Westfield London Beach Club opens today and runs until August 13, but if you miss out then don't worry as a Beach Club will then open at Westfield Stratford from August 18 to August 31. Europe's Biggest Pleasure Pier is in the UK The beach club will be open each day from 12pm to 8pm, Monday to Saturday and on Sundays between 12pm and 6pm. Westfield is also hosting 'Sounds of the Summer' over the coming weeks. The event includes roaming entertainment and live DJs every Friday from 5pm to 9pm between July 18 and August 26. Music events also take place each weekend. As part of the Sounds of the Summer event, there are also a number of offers including food deals. And if you are still looking for something to do, both Westfield London and Westfield Stratford have something for everyone. At Westfield London, for example, TOCA Social recently opened its biggest venue yet, where visitors can play immersive football games. Alternatively, at Westfield Stratford City, there is Gravity MAX - an immersive destination with e-karting, AR bowling and digital darts. Wetherspoon has also revealed plans to open 30 new pubs. Plus, the world's first 'amazement park' that fans say is like a dystopian Disney to open second site in the UK. 2
The Sun
3 days ago
- The Sun
You can spend the day in Maldives-style overwater huts – just 3 hours from the UK
IMAGINE soaking up the sun whilst suspended over the sea - you'd think you were in the Maldives, right? Well you can actually enjoy Maldives-style sea beds, just over three hours from the UK. 7 7 7 Located in Albania is the picturesque, Mykonos-looking town of Sarandë. Sandwiched between the Ionian Sea and rolling hills littered with olive groves, the resort town boasts a great alternative destination to the Maldives. The Lost Seaside beach club features a pool, beach, restaurant and lounge. And it has multiple different sunbeds to choose from, including nets suspended above the sea. The beach club strikes a balance between chilled vibes and luxury with breathtaking views and refreshing cocktails. In addition, there is also a restaurant where you can grab eats, including fresh salads, feta dishes and squid. Prices for sunbeds vary depending on what type you want and when you visit. But prices for August are £106.95 for a net cabana in the beach area, which hangs over the water, for three people - so around £35 per person. Alternatively you can grab a normal cabana for £62.39 for two people or two sunbeds for £35.65. By the pool there are also a couple of options included cabanas for £62.39 for three people and two sunbeds for £35.65. Beach Club that's like being on the Med Guests can grab a beer for around £4.46, an Aperol spritz for £5.35 or a cocktail from £8.91. Hundreds of keen travellers who have headed to the resort have posted videos of the spot on social media. One visitor said: "The music and food were top tier, loved the views as well." Another visitor mentioned how they went to the resort in June and found it to be less crowded than other popular spots. There are a couple of different ways to get to the resort. One way is to fly to Corfu Airport in Greece and then jump onboard a ferry. 7 7 7 Return flights to Corfu can cost as low as £85 from Birmingham or £110 from London Gatwick in August - which is a peak month. And whilst the ferry prices rise and fall depending on the day you travel and the time, return tickets can be found as low as £23 per adult. In total, it could cost you just over £100 per person to get to the town. Alternatively, you could fly to Tirana, the capital of Albania, which tends to be cheaper most of the year except July and August. In Sarandë itself, there is a selection of restaurants and bars worth exploring as well. And also nearby is the popular spot of The Blue Eye - a natural spring in the village of Muzinë with crystal clear waters that are about 12C. Another great location is Gjirokastër, known for its Ottoman architecture and UNESCO-listed old town with stone houses to venture around. Maldives hotel named one of the best in the world SIYAM World, a Maldives hotel, has earned global recognition from Tripadvisor. This vast resort offers unique experiences for all guests, set within the stunning Maldivian landscape. It boasts four kilometres of beaches and six kilometres of reef. Accommodations range from villas to residences, with many water villas featuring private pools and ocean slides. Adrenaline junkies can enjoy the floating waterpark, sporty jet cars, and even a semi-submersible Seabreacher. On land, the resort features a horse ranch, jungle go-karting, and an international football field, offering diverse activities. Families are catered to with "Kidz World," while adults can relax at the onsite spa. The resort operates on an all-inclusive basis, with extensive dining and drink options. To reach this paradise from the UK, fly directly from London Heathrow to Velana International Airport, followed by a quick seaplane or domestic flight and speedboat transfer. There is also a Maldives-like overwater bungalow resort in the UK that has a new outdoor pool and slide complex. Plus, the beautiful lake an hour from London with overwater bungalows like the Maldives. 7
Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Welcome to Scorpios, summer's hottest beach hangout
Sunday afternoon on the Bodrum coast and Scorpios is purring. Girls in Hunza G bikinis take selfies with their Loewe raffia handbags; a man in Hawaiian print Vilebrequin swim shorts tokes on a slim cigar. Everywhere, buttocks veiled in crocheted kaftans are Pilates-toned and gleaming, and pedicured toes slip in and out of Vuitton sliders. Waiters and waitresses in sandstone linens zigzag nimbly through the crowd carrying plates of ceviche, while a DJ revs up on the decks. In the Aegean Sea beyond, superyachts bob indolently in the breeze. This is not just any bougie beach club — in fact, these coveted sunloungers mark the expansion of a glittering empire. If you've ever worn a Melissa Odabash kaftan, you've probably heard of Scorpios Mykonos, the ur-beach club founded in 2015 by the German hedonists turned hospitality moguls Thomas Heyne and Mario Hertel. It was named after the Mykonos private island where Jackie Onassis used to summer, and the vibes are legendary: small plates and ice-cool spritzes, DJs playing music while guests dance on the soft sands, admire the sorbet-coloured sunset or do some people-watching from behind cat-eye shades (Mick Jagger and Brad Pitt have visited). Scorpios Bodrum is hoping to do the same on this part of the Aegean coast — basically, to reinvent the beach club, again. Even if Heyne — charming and loquacious, looking every inch the hospitality guru with his deep tan and mirrored sunglasses — hates the term. 'Look, basically I don't like the word 'beach club'.' He laughs. This is only, he hastens to add, because he thinks there's much more to Scorpios than that. 'Our main pillars are food, drinks, music.' They run a music label that supports emerging artists and DJs, and a bazaar to sell the work of craftspeople scouted from around the world. 'We are not a simple beach club. We are much more.' He and Hertel spent 20 years working in the nightclub business, initially in Berlin. But the party lifestyle had hollowed them out: they were sick of hangovers that lasted weeks and the thudding monotony of EDM. They suspected some of their clientele might feel the same way. 'We realised that people not only like going out, they also want to do something good for their mind, for their body, for their soul — not coming home needing two weeks' holiday from the holidays.' • Inside Scorpios – the coolest beach club on Mykonos They opened in Mykonos, and shifted the rules of the party. 'We brought it from inside to outside, from a late-night experience to a 'whole day into the early night' experience.' At Scorpios, the night ends at midnight. 'So the next day is your friend.' To press the point, they also threw in a dollop of woo-woo — sound healing, gong baths, ecstatic dance. In Bodrum they're expanding this programme. High on the hill above the bay, Scorpios Bodrum extends into a network of 12 bungalows with infinity pools where guests can stay, a restaurant with a terrace that catches the evening light — and the Ritual Space, an airy stone room lit by skylights set into a high ceiling (imagine if Jacquemus designed a temple). Here, you can do what Heyne calls 'holistic' wellness — ie sound healing and breathwork — as well as 'biohacking' via treatments such as IV drips, or a sauna and cold plunge. Usually I'd rather spontaneously combust than do a gong bath. But when in Bodrum … so I sign up for 'a transformative journey through sound and spirit', which basically involves freestyle dancing (oh God), then lying on the ground trying to 'feel present' while listening to gongs and chanting (oh God). My instructors are lissom, glossy, dressed in the sort of simple clothes that come with unsimple price tags. But 20 minutes into the session I am letting my body move to the music. Really move — sway and stomp and shimmy to the pulsing drumbeats. Around me, people in acid-bright Alo Yoga co-ords find their own groove … I think: after five minutes I close my eyes and lose myself to dance. I have surrendered to the cult of Scorpios. Still, it's a relief to be back on the terrace again sipping a fennel margarita. A few smartphones are pointed at the sunset — 'Every location we scout the first thing is, where's the sunset?' Heyne says — but mostly lenses are trained on the people who are here to see and be seen. He adds there is no such thing as an 'ideal' Scorpios customer: 'Everybody's welcome. Our philosophy is, treat it like everybody's the same. If you have one euro or if you're a billionaire.' • This fashion editor's pick for a chic family holiday? It's Marbs Surveying the crowd, I would say they have overindexed on beautiful people, who — as golden hour settles over the terrace — look like they are shimmering. The number of statement bags on tables indicates a fairly conspicuous level of wealth. Scorpios could be tacky but toes the right line: staff wear Grecian dresses or slouchy smocks; cocktails are complex and dishes involve local ingredients. Nothing arrives with a sparkler sticking out of it; nothing happens behind a velvet rope. 'Beautiful people, really cool people, are attracting all the other people, who are booking the more expensive things,' Heyne says. He insists Scorpios is for families too. 'We want to have families, parents coming with their parents and with their kids.' (Mercifully I see only one during my stay.) Heyne scouted the site when he was on holiday in Bodrum with his own family. On a boat trip he passed by a peninsula, 'and I said, 'Wow, what a location.' I called everybody — 'Hey, do you know who owns this?' ' It remained a mystery, until a year later when a friend called and asked if he was still interested in the site. 'Two weeks later I found myself in the office of the tourist minister of Turkey. I'm talking to him because he is a hotelier and has the peninsula under control.' Luckily for us, they struck a deal. 'It's a top location,' he says. 'I think it's cooking now.' • What to shop for every holiday — from Greece to south Devon He and Hertel won't stop with Bodrum: the next stages in the Scorpios expansion are sites in Tulum, Dubai and Athens, as well as adding villas to Mykonos. All the new Scorpios will have rooms. 'We wanted to give at least a couple of people the chance to have, instead of a 12-hour experience, a 24-hour experience.' I spend a decent part of my 36ish-hour experience drifting between my infinity pool and vast outdoor bath. In Dubai they will have medinas with 'amazing living rooms, sea views … the architecture of it is very much inspired by the movie Dune'. Back in Bodrum and Monday afternoon is definitely 'cooking'. Three girls in black swimwear do a synchronised dive into the deep while a fourth films it on her phone. Every sunlounger and table is occupied. Buggies shuttle people between the bungalows and the sea and back again, while helicopters and PJs crisscross the cloudless sky, drowned out by the sound of the music at the club. • The best luxury resortwear for women More than just your basic beach club, then. 'We went to ChatGPT and said that we are offering this and this and this, and it said you are like a 'luxury hospitality lifestyle brand',' Heyne recounts. Or maybe it's just Scorpios.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
‘Green Jacket? It's on the yacht' – Rory McIlroy parties and jokes with golf fans on break in a beach club in St Tropez
RORY MCILROY has been enjoying some time away from the golf course as he was seen joking with fans in St Tropez. The Northern Irish clubber finished tied for seventh at the Open, which ended on Sunday. 3 3 McIlroy, 36, has now whisked himself away to the south of France from some R&R. The golfer was spotted by some fans partying in a beach club to loud music. The fans were keen to know why he was not wearing his green blazer that he earned for winning the Masters in April. They typed out a message on their phone reading "Where's the Green Jacket?". They also tried shouting the question to McIlroy, but could not be heard over the loud music. McIlroy eventually spotted the fans and bounced his way over to them, clutching a wine glass. He answered their question brilliantly as he joked: "It's on the yacht." The group of them burst out laughing as they enjoyed the vibes of the party. McIlroy appeared very relaxed with his friends as he wore a jacketless outfit of a black shirt and swim trunks paired with a backwards cap. The moment has gone viral on social media with plenty of fans enjoying the golfer's humour. Baffled Rory McIlroy hits TWO balls with ONE shot in incredible never-seen-before incident at The Open One posted: "Haters gonna hate but this is a W for Rory." A second commented: "Could be the hardest flex of all time." A third wrote: "This is the most I've ever liked Rory." A fourth said: "I like Rory now based off this video." 3 Another added: "Hate Rory but kinda love that he gets down." McIlroy landed the Green Jacket after 11 years of trying to complete his Grand Slam. However, he did fail to beat Scottie Scheffler to the Claret Jug at the Open.
The Sun
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Cole Palmer parties at Wayne Lineker's Ibiza beach club for ‘champion celebration' days after split from Connie Grace
COLE PALMER partied at Wayne Lineker's beach club in Ibiza days after his split with Connie Grace was confirmed. The Chelsea superstar, 23, has been enjoying some well earned time off following his Club World Cup heroics. 7 7 Last week Palmer headed to St Kitts, his grandfather's Caribbean birthplace, and received a brilliant welcome. The England ace has since headed to Ibiza for some further downtime. While there, Palmer headed to O Beach - Wayne Lineker 's famous club. The destination is a footballers' favourite, with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Jack Grealish and Kevin Danso having been spotted there previously. While in attendance, Palmer posed for a snap with the club's founder Tony Truman and his 20-year-old daughter Kiki. The trio sat on a comfy looking sofa for the picture, with Palmer looking relaxed in a white T-shirt, camo shorts and trainers. To celebrate Palmer's arrival, O Beach threw a party for the Chelsea hero. In a video posted to social media, dancers could be seen holding up letters spelling "World Champ". 7 7 7 This was not Palmer's first time at O Beach, having attended alongside then-girlfriend Connie Grace last year. But this time the football star was solo, after his split from Connie emerged earlier this month. The pair are believed to have met when they were just 17, and were spotted together on holiday last year. Amid the couple's split, rumours circulated online that Connie had suggested marriage. While putting people right, the social media star also opened up on abuse that she has received. Connie, 23, said: "Don't believe everything you read online. The lies that people post to get views/likes is so sad! "It's actually wild the amount of abuse I have received from grown men in the last 24hrs! "No I have never proposed a marriage lol." 7
